Listen to the Call:

Transcript:

RECORDING: Thank you for calling Planned Parenthood at Chester County.

(Message repeated in Spanish)

To speak with a receptionist, please remain on the line. If you know your party’s extension, please enter it now or press 9 for a last name directory. Thank you for calling.

One moment please.

RECORDING: Planned Parenthood of Chester County provides a wide variety of reproductive healthcare services, including all —

CLINIC: Planned Parenthood.

CALLER: Hi. Yeah. I was calling to see if you guys do abortions there.

CLINIC: Yes, we do.

CALLER: Do you know how much it cost for that?

CLINIC: It would be between 300 and $500.

CALLER: Well, what’s the difference?

CLINIC: We do four types of procedures here. We do two medical and two surgical. The two medical procedures are 350 for the safe and effective alternative method, and $500 for the FDA-approved method. And the surgical procedures are $300 for local anesthesia and $400 with local anesthesia with IV sedation.

CALLER: Okay. My main concern is I’m going to be 14 later on this month, and my friend told me that you guys would have to tell my parents. But my boyfriend’s 22. Can he just take care of it, and you wouldn’t have to tell anybody?

CLINIC: No. In Pennsylvania, before you would be allowed to have an abortion, you would have to either, a) have parental consent of one of your parents, or b) go before a judge for a judicial bypass.

CALLER: Well, what is that? I don’t want my parents to know at all.

CLINIC: Well, what we would do is we would set you up with a woman, Paula, here. And she would take you to a judge. And a judge would decide whether or not he thinks that your parents need to know or not.

CALLER: Well, what if he says that they have to know?

CLINIC: Then you would not be allowed to have an abortion. He wouldn’t tell your parents, but you would not be allowed to have an abortion in Pennsylvania.

CALLER: How much does it cost for the judge?

CLINIC: The judge is included free as a service. We have lawyers.

CALLER: Well, does he usually say it’s all right?

CLINIC: Usually they do, yes. It depends on certain circumstances like how young you are, circumstances around the pregnancy.

CALLER: My boyfriend’s just a great guy, and he said that he would pay for everything. But we don’t want anyone to know about us. Would he have to sign anything or fill out any forms if he was paying?

CLINIC: He may, yeah. If he was paying, he would pay by money order.

CALLER: Well, he said he’d pay everything with cash.

CLINIC: No, we don’t take cash.

CALLER: Oh, okay. So a money order would be the best thing then?

CLINIC: Or a credit card.

CALLER: I think he would probably want to use a money order. But would you have to tell anybody about it?

CALLER: Well, he just doesn’t want anyone to know about us, because he doesn’t want his ex-wife to know and we don’t want my parents to know. And we just don’t want to get in trouble.

CLINIC: The judge is going to ask you questions like that. And number one, because you are very young and your boyfriend is over 18, that’s basically illegal.

CALLER: It’s illegal?

CLINIC: Yeah.

CALLER: Why?

CLINIC: How old are you?

CALLER: I’m going to be 14 on the 19th.

CLINIC: And how old is your boyfriend?

CALLER: Twenty-two.

CLINIC: Yeah. In Pennsylvania that’s considered statutory rape.

CALLER: He’s not raping me. I mean, we’re in love. We’re going to be married. I don’t understand. He said he would take care of me for the rest of my life. He can’t be in trouble. He’s the only one that’s there for me.

CLINIC: I’m not saying that. I’m just telling you that the judge is going to ask you those questions.

CALLER: Well, what should I do? What should I say?

CLINIC: You have to tell the truth. You’ll be under oath.

CALLER: Okay. Well, what would happen?

CLINIC: I don’t know. That depends on the judge.

CALLER: Well, what’s the worst thing that could happen?

CLINIC: I can’t say. I don’t know.

CALLER: Okay. Well, I haven’t had a pregnancy test yet. Would you guys be able to do that there and not tell anybody?

CLINIC: We have confidentiality here. If you come in for a pregnancy test, the only way people —

CALLER: Well, if my boyfriend brought me in there, then you wouldn’t have to tell anybody about him either?

CLINIC: I don’t know.

CALLER: Okay. So would it be better that he wasn’t there?

CLINIC: No, no. We have confidentiality. We’re not going to tell anybody anything about your history if you are a patient.

CALLER: But what about him?

CLINIC: If he’s not our patient, we’re not going to know anything about him.

CALLER: Okay. All right. So I shouldn’t say anything about him then?

CLINIC: What’s that?

CALLER: So I shouldn’t say anything about him then?

CLINIC: I don’t know what you’re asking me.

CALLER: Well, I don’t know what I need to do. I just don’t want anyone to get in trouble.

CLINIC: Okay. Well, basically you need to come in for a pregnancy test if you’re not sure you’re pregnant.

CALLER: Well, how much does it cost for that?

CLINIC: If you’re a teen, your services here are free for things like that. You would still be required to pay for your procedure however.

CALLER: Well, if it turned out that I wasn’t pregnant, could I get birth control too?

CLINIC: You would have to have a full exam with us to get birth control here.

CALLER: Well, how much does it cost for that?

CLINIC: Your services here until you’re 18 are free.

CALLER: Oh, all right. But we just don’t want to have to go through all this again, so we were wanting birth control. Would you have to tell anybody if I was on birth control?

CLINIC: Hang on one second.

(Pause)

CLINIC: No. It’s all confidential just like any other doctor records. They’re confidential. No one can see your records without your written permission.

CALLER: Okay. I don’t drive yet. Would my boyfriend be able to pick up the birth control pills?

CLINIC: Sure. If he had a note from you and it was kept in your chart.

CALLER: All right. I’m just really confused about all this. I need to think about this. But if I had any other things to ask, could I talk to you? What was your name?

CLINIC: My name is Laurie. You can call me back anytime. I’m here pretty much everyday.

CALLER: All right.

CLINIC: Okay?

CALLER: Okay. Thanks.

CLINIC: Thank you. Bye.

***END***

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